Learn How the Washington Legislature Works

Get help developing the skills you need to make a difference advocating for (or against) a piece of legislation in this complimentary online class, Influencing Olympia Effectively.

The Washington Legislature Website provides educational information to help citizens learn how government works and how to get active. We encourage you to explore and learn. And like everything else — you’ll learn more once you become actively engaged.

Agendas, Schedules, and Calendars

Committee Meeting Agendas, Schedules, and Documents
Committee meetings you may filter by date, chamber, and committee and view by schedule, agenda, or bill.

Bill Information

Search for bills by number or key words.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

“For more information, see Legislative Process Overview, Reed’s Parliamentary Rules, and Civic Education Page.

• A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or House of Representatives by a member.
  It is referred to a committee for a hearing. The committee studies the bill and may hold public hearings on it. It can then pass, reject, or take no action on the bill.
• The committee report on the passed bill is read in open session of the House or Senate, and the bill is then referred to the Rules Committee.
• The Rules Committee can either place the bill on the second reading calendar for debate before the entire body, or take no action.
• At the second reading, a bill is subject to debate and amendment before being placed on the third reading calendar for final passage.
• After passing one house, the bill goes through the same procedure in the other house.
• If amendments are made in the other house, the first house must approve the changes.
• When the bill is accepted in both houses, it is signed by the respective leaders and sent to the governor.
• The governor signs the bill into law or may veto all or part of it. If the governor fails to act on the bill, it may become law without a signature.”

Contacting Your Legislators
Contact LIC: (360) 786-7573 | Legislative Building, Room 110 | P.O. Box 40500, Olympia, WA 98504-0500

Getting Your Opinions to Your Legislators

Find Your Legislators
To find which legislators represent you, click on the District Finder and enter your address. A list of your Washington State Representatives and Senator will be returned. You can use the District Finder to view your Congressional members as well.

E-mail Your Legislators
If you prefer e-mail, you may use the website’s e-mail forms to send messages to your legislators at any time. From the Member E-mail List page, click your legislator’s name to go to the e-mail form.

Send Bill Comments
If you would like to send a message to your legislators regarding a specific bill, you may use the Bill Comments form accessible from each individual Bill Summary web page. After entering the bill number, click Search, and select Comment on this bill to get started.

Office Addresses and Phone Numbers
Legislator phone numbers and office addresses are available on the individual member pages. Links to the member pages can be found on the House site, the Senate site and on the Member Roster lists.

Detailed Instructions: Contacting Your Legislators

Toll-Free Hotline
Do you want to send a message to your Senator or Representative? Call our HOTLINE at 1-800-562-6000 (TTY for Hearing Impaired 800.833.6388). Callers to the Hotline can leave a brief message for their district legislators or for the Governor on issues of concern or on questions they may have about bills or laws. These messages are forwarded electronically to the appropriate individuals. When leaving a message with the Hotline, please be prepared to give your name and street address. For non-English speaking callers we offer interpreter services for many languages.

The Hotline staff will also fulfill requests for bills and other legislative documents and can answer questions about meeting times and places, pending legislation and the legislative process.

During the Legislative session, the Hotline is open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

When the Legislature is not in session the Hotline is open from 8:00 a.m. to Noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.